In the following essay, Bowman surveys the critical reaction to “The Nose” and offers his own interpretation of Gogol's story.

‘… Nevertheless, if you think over all this, there really is something in it.’

—N. Gogol', ‘The Nose’

I

In September 1836 Aleksandr Pushkin published in his literary journal The Contemporary a story entitled ‘The Nose’, written by Nikolay Gogol'. Pushkin prefaced the story with a note, which constitutes at the same time something like the blurb of an eminent fellow-author and the inducement of a cautious editor: ‘For a long time N. V. Gogol' would not agree to publishing this farce. But we have found in it so much that is unexpected, fantastic, amusing, and original, that we have persuaded him to allow us to share with the public the pleasure which his manuscript has afforded...